


In Sickness and In Health

by Carmenlire



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, POV Magnus Bane, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 04:07:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18161273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmenlire/pseuds/Carmenlire
Summary: Magnus's eyes sweep from sweat-damp hair to where Alec's lips are chapped from breathing through his mouth to his shivering form under a pile of blankets. He reaches out and gently lays the back of his hand against Alec’s forehead.Almost immediately, he winces even as Alec sighs in his sleep, relaxing into the cool touch.Magnus takes a bracing sip from his mug and opens his laptop. He spends the next half hour or so cancelling and rescheduling the day’s appointments and wondering just how difficult of a patient Alec's going to be.Or, Magnus takes care of Alec when he catches a mundane cold.





	In Sickness and In Health

Magnus wakes up with a wall of heat plastered against his back. Instead of comforting warmth, it feels like he’s landed in a furnace.

With a grimace, he pulls away from Alec and carefully sits up, letting the sheets pool around his waist. Looking over his shoulder, he sees his boyfriend sleeping. It doesn’t look to be restful, though, and instead of those adorable little snores he's grown used to, Magnus's eyes widen a little as it sounds like a goddamn chainsaw has started in the bedroom with Alec's next breath.

His frown matches Alec’s as he considers his boyfriend. His eyes sweep from sweat-damp hair to where his lips are chapped from breathing through his mouth to his shivering form under a pile of blankets. He reaches out and gently lays the back of his hand on Alec’s forehead.

Almost immediately, he winces even as Alec sighs in his sleep, relaxing into his touch. 

Looking at the clock that rests on the bedside table, Magnus sees that it’s early morning, before even Alec’s alarm is set to go off. In the blink of an eye, Magnus makes a decision and summons his boyfriend’s phone into his hand, unlocking it before swiping the alarm off.

He sends a text to both Isabelle and Jace and climbs out of bed, making sure to rearrange the blankets around Alec. Taking his own phone with him, Magnus makes his way to the kitchen where he puts the kettle on for his own morning blend before pouring a cup and heading to his apothecary.

Settling down in his chair, Magnus takes a bracing sip from his mug and opens his laptop. He spends the next half hour or so cancelling and rescheduling the day’s appointments before spending another hour checking his email and generally catching up on work.

The sun is just peeking over the balcony’s railing when Magnus pushes away from his desk and drains the last of his cup, bringing his arms up in a leisurely stretch. With the thought that Alec might be waking soon, Magnus stands and pokes around his apothecary, selecting a few herbs and other ingredients for Alec’s own blend of tea that will help with whatever’s taken him ill.

Magnus didn’t know that shadowhunters could even get something so mundane as the flu or a particularly bad cold but he supposes that it shouldn’t be all that surprising. He’s been with Alec for over three years now and this is the first time Magnus has seen Alec laid low with anything remotely resembling something so pedestrian as a stuffy nose.

Bringing the few ingredients to the kitchen, Magnus makes a tea, adding a generous dollop of honey when he hears a wracking cough from the bedroom.

Pouring the tea into a large, homey mug that they'd made on a date last year, Magnus brings the tea with him to their bedroom and pauses in the threshold. Alec is just rousing and Magnus waits to see what happens next.

His alarm should have went off almost forty five minutes ago and Magnus gives him points for not sleeping longer. He watches as Alec groans a little, reaching across the bed for him in a move that does _not_ make Magnus’s heart clutch a little before sinking into the bed with a muttered curse. However, the sun is washing over Alec’s face and it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for his eyes to fly open as he realizes that he’s overslept.

Magnus watches as Alec curses again, this time much more vehement, before throwing the covers off in a mad dash.

“Easy,” he chides, pushing away from the door frame just as Alec swings his legs out of bed. Even from across the room, Magnus sees the way Alec shivers at the cold.

“What are you doing up,” Alec mumbles as Magnus walks over to him. “I’m running late-- I need to get ready and be at the Institute in fifteen minutes.”

Magnus stops him from standing, laying a hand a hand on Alec’s chest while holding out the tea in the other. “You’re sick, darling, and I won’t have you gallivanting across town and taking out your piss poor attitude on innocent shadowhunters-- most of whom don’t deserve it,” Magnus ends with a small smile.

“I’m fine,” Alec insists and shakes his head a little as he distractedly takes Magnus’s hand from his chest and brings it up to his lips, kissing the knuckles before moving Magnus out of the way.

Magnus sighs a little to himself, though he moves without resisting, setting down the tea on Alec’s table.

“Alright, Alexander,” Magnus says easily enough. “Go ahead and get ready. If you can do that, I won’t stand in your way if you want to go to the Institute today.”

Alec studies him for a second, blinking owlishly as though he can’t believe Magnus’s acquiescence but all Magnus does is wave his hand in a _prove me wrong_ gesture that’s _at least_ sixty percent sarcastic, no matter that Alec doesn’t notice.

Magnus watches with a raised eyebrow as Alec takes a shuddering breath and stands. He sways a little in place, blinking furiously before he starts toward the bathroom at a slow pace. It’s not _Alec_ for a few reasons, not the least of which is that he’s running late and Magnus has only known his boyfriend to leisurely stroll when they’re on a date.

Alec makes it to the bathroom, pausing to rest at the door and Magnus can hear his breathing-- a little labored-- from where he’s still standing next to Alec’s side of the bed.

However, Alec throws a victorious look over his shoulder and the door shuts with a little click as he makes it the rest of the way into the bathroom.

Rolling his eyes at his boyfriend’s stubbornness, Magnus putters around the bedroom while he waits for Alec to admit defeat. He changes the bed sheets and cleans up his jewelry from where he’d left necklaces, rings, and a body chain out the night before in their haste to go to bed.

He estimates that twenty or so minutes have passed when the door eases open with the shower still running. Looking up from where he’d been placing a warming spell on the tea mug to keep the tea from running cold, Magnus hides his own victorious look as Alec stands hesitatingly just outside of the door.

“I don’t feel good,” Alec admits sheepishly. “I think I might be sick.”

With a little sound of sympathy, Magnus doesn't gloat, he just walks over to Alec and wedges an a shoulder under his arm. “Now, I wonder where you got an idea like that,” he replies dryly and steers them back to the bathroom.

“I’m tired, babe. Can’t we just go to bed,” Alec mutters, leaning against his side.

“As soon as we get you into clean clothes, darling,” Magnus says, muscling his very tall and very disgruntled boyfriend in front of the shower. The water’s warm, the mirror fogged up and Magnus has just eased Alec’s shirt over his head when he asks, “What were you doing in here for twenty minutes--”

“I was sitting down,” Alec admits before Magnus can even finish. “I turned the water on but then I just sat on your vanity chair. Getting ready seemed like a lot of effort.”

“Well, now that we both know you aren’t going anywhere, let’s get you clean and into new pajamas.”

Alec follows instructions as Magnus strips him and guides him into the shower. With a sigh, Magnus strips too and the two of them take a blistering shower. Alec’s lethargic and seems a little out of it as Magnus efficiently washes them both with quick, economical moves.

He smiles just a little whenever Alec’s eyes close whenever he washes his hair but he’s cursing the next minute as Alec lists sideways, falling asleep on his feet.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Magnus murmurs. “Just a few more minutes.”

Alec glares at him, hazel eyes burning just a little brighter with his fever as they finish the shower and Magnus dries him off with a giant, fluffy towel that Alec jerks away from.

“Stop,” he mutters. “It hurts.”

Knowing that Alec’s probably achy and getting chilled now that the water’s off, Magnus just makes soothing noises as he finishes the job. He summons one of his robes, wrapping it around himself before he’s getting a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie for Alec with another snap of his fingers.

Alec’s in bed a few minutes later, all but crawling under the covers with a sigh of relief. Magnus hates to disturb him but he reaches for the mug of tea anyway, its contents still steaming even if it has been almost an hour since he first brewed it.

“Here, Alexander,” Magnus murmurs. “Just a few sips.”

Alec doesn’t move and as Magnus thinks over ways to make his boyfriend drink the tea that will help bring the fever down and ease some of his symptoms, he’s struck with an idea that only makes him feel a little bad.

Gently carding his hand through Alec’s damp hair, Magnus leans down until his lips are close to Alec’s ear. “Please drink some of this tea I made you, darling. For me?”

Nothing happens for a minute and Magnus is forced to consider alternatives when Alec grumbles and opens one eye. “I’m tired,” he mutters woefully but Magnus doesn’t let that stop him from helping Alec to sit up.

“You’ll feel better after some tea,” Magnus promises and has to smother a laugh whenever Alec grouses and sits up with a force that looks like it takes everything he has, glaring dazedly at Magnus before taking the cup in Magnus’s outstretched hand.

Alec’s taken just a few careful sips, throat working with each swallow, when his eyes widen and his mouth parts on a sharp inhale.

“I need to call the Institute and let someone know I won’t be in today,” Alec says before his hands fly to his pockets before reaching over to the nightstand.

Magnus stills his frantic movements with calm fingers. “No need,” he assures Alec. “Already taken care of.”

“What,” Alec asks owlishly. “When?”

Magnus just looks at him drolly. “Whenever I woke up in the dead of the night to you sweating through your shirt and your wheezing breaths.”

Alec grimaces, muttering a, “Sorry,” that has Magnus smiling at him quietly.

“No need to be sorry, sweetheart. I just knew whenever I woke up to you with a fever that you wouldn’t be in any condition to work. I texted both Isabelle and Jace to let them know and--”

Magnus breaks off as the phone he’d set on the nightstand when he’d brought the tea vibrates. Leaning away from Alec, Magnus takes a moment to read the screen before his face lights up and he returns to Alec with a bright look.

“Dear Isabelle just replied and said-- and I quote-- 'Let me know if you need help wrangling him into bed. He’s rarely sick but when he is, he’s the world's worst patient. Tell him if he even thinks about coming to the Institute today, I’ll let Stonebridge know that Alec thinks his key lime pie is so disgusting that not even Alicante’s rats would eat it.'”

Alec pales, making his flushed cheeks stand out all the more. “She can’t do that,” he exclaims weakly. “Stonebridge thinks I love his baking and he gives me valuable intel from Idris in exchange for being his tester.”

“Best not to test your sister then, wouldn’t you say, darling?”

Alec blinks, not saying anything, before his shoulders slump even more than they were before and he mumbles, “I guess.”

Magnus has to resist the urge to pinch his boyfriend’s cheeks-- he’s so cute when he’s being petulant, after all.

Magnus watches as Alec slowly drinks all of the tea, sighing when he’s finished and holding out the empty mug to him with a pleased expression.

“Good?”

“It tasted like gingerbread,” Alec says slowly, as though he doesn’t trust his taste buds.

“It did, indeed,” Magnus confirms, reaching out a hand to test Alec’s temperature as his boyfriend relaxes onto his back in bed, pulling the covers up to his chin.

He’s still hot and Alec sighs at the coolness. Magnus lets his hand rest against Alec’s chest, over the steady if slightly accelerated beat of his heart. It’s soothing and Magnus feels like he could sit here all day and watch over Alexander in the quiet of their bedroom.

Alas, he has things he needs to do even if he did cancel his appointments for the day but Magnus waits until he’s sure Alec’s sleeping before standing. He doesn’t even take a step away from the bed before Alec’s snagging a hand out faster than he should be able to, though, and pulling him closer.

“What’s going on,” he asks, half-asleep. “Where are you going?”

Leaning over Alec, Magnus lays a tiny kiss on his forehead, frowning a little at the sheer heat radiating from his boyfriend.

“Rest, darling. I’ll just be in my study.”

If anything, Alec just becomes more stubborn, pulling sluggishly on Magnus’s arm.

“No,” he insists. “Stay with me.”

And who’s Magnus to argue with that? With a small huff of laughter, Magnus shoos Alec back to the bed and just holds up a hand whenever Alec whines-- _whines_ \-- as he thinks Magnus is leaving after all.

Instead, he walks around the bed and climbs in on his own side, shuffling over to Alec. He barely settles before Alec’s closing that last bit of distance, throwing an arm over his waist and laying his head over Magnus’s chest. 

Almost immediately, Alec’s turning boneless against Magnus and his congestion makes it seem like he’s honest to God purring as Magnus starts carding a hand through his hair.

Magnus quickly loses track of time after that. He’s distantly aware of the sun rising higher in the sky but their bedroom seems removed from reality all together as Magnus lets Alec cuddle him to within an inch of his life. He’s shivering no matter that he’s overheated and Magnus figures he has a couple of hours before he’ll rouse Alec and persuade him to try some broth.

In the meantime, he’ll let Alec sleep and revel a little in the fact that he gets to have this.

It’s nothing glamorous but it is real. And it’s his. He gets to take care of Alec-- who is mostly a model patient for him, once the man realizes that he is, in fact, too ill to work-- and he gets to suffer as Alec’s body heat radiates and he gets to wince as his boyfriend, still sleeping, gets snot all over his Italian silk robe with his runny nose.

Alec trusts himself enough to be so vulnerable and that means more than Magnus can say to be the one Alec lets in when he’s sick. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t carefully sit up from Alec’s tentacle grip a little while later though, and summon the book he’s translating for a client. He gets a little work done, levitating the book in front of him while one hand scrawls the translation-- to be typed later on along with any notes-- and the other sweeps over Alec, constantly soothing even when he’s sleeping.

Alec wakes up in the early afternoon feeling even worse and Magnus makes Alec a simple lunch-- a soup he can barely remember his mother making him all those lifetimes ago-- while he throws together a little potion to help his boyfriend.

Alec’s fever breaks late in the evening to Magnus’s relief-- and to his delight, Alec decides to stay home the next day, too, reasoning that he was tired and sore and just wanted to rest a little more before carrying on as if nothing had happened.

No, Magnus reflects as Alec’s snoring is particularly potent that night, there’s nothing glamorous of taking care of a sick patient, even if they’re the love of his life.

Still, he always wants to be Alec’s calm in the storm just as Alec has been his time and time again. He’s seen Alec in all manner of distress from demon wounds to poison-riddled infections and this is barely a blip on his radar. It’s almost a relief, really, to deal with something so mundane from his boyfriend who seems to court danger no matter how hard he tries not to.

Sighing a little, Magnus barely flinches as he feels Alec start drooling. He’s tired himself after a long day and it’s with that thought, that Magnus lets himself fall asleep to snores that are still music to his ears, even if the person they originate from is still a little congested and stuffy and all around, a little gross.

Magnus has been in love plenty of times-- most of which weren’t easy or perfect. Nothing’s ever felt quite so much his, however, as his boyfriend coughing while squeezing him closer. 

_I guess this really is love_ , Magnus wonders, and falls asleep before Alec can finish his latest snore.

**Author's Note:**

> catch me on tumblr or twitter @carmenlire!


End file.
